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NEWS - Rights Violations Persist in



Subject: NEWS - Rights Violations Persist in Myanmar U.N. Report

Rights Violations Persist in Myanmar U.N. Report

            Reuters
            28-OCT-98

            UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Human rights violations, ranging
from
            torture of prisoners and forced labor to the monitoring of
opposition
            political parties, persist in Myanmar, according to a report
by a U.N.
            investigator released on Wednesday. 

            The situation in Myanmar, formerly Burma, "has not evolved
in any
            favorable way" since an earlier report on the matter in
April, said
            Rajsoomer Lallah of Mauritius, a member of the U.N. Human
Rights
            Commission. 

            "Many reports indicate that in Myanmar political parties in
opposition
            continue to be subject to intense and constant monitoring by
the
            regime, aimed at restricting their activities and
prohibiting members of
            political parties from leaving their localities," he said. 

            The report was released as U.N. Assistant Secretary-General
Alvaro
            de Soto was on a four-day visit to Myanmar, seeking a more
            democratic government in the southeast Asian nation of than
41
            million people. 

            De Soto had a meeting Wednesday with Lieutenant-General Khin
            Nyunt, the head of military intelligence and a top member of
the ruling
            military council. 

            De Soto was also reported to have met the leader of the
National
            League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the
1991
            Nobel peace prize, whose party won Myanmar's last election
in 1990,
            but was never allowed to take office. 

            Referring to Suu Kyi, Lallah wrote in his report that he was
particularly
            concerned about "the inability of her party to organize
normal political
            meetings and functions." 

            He also said he remained "deeply concerned about the
continued
            harassment of political leaders and the detention of many
political
            prisoners." 

            Lallah said he has received "reports indicating that torture
and
            ill-treatment, including beatings in prisons and
interrogation centers,
            continue to be a common practice." 

            In view of the sanitary conditions, lack of medical
attention and refusal
            to allow access by the International Committee of the Red
Cross, he
            said he was "not surprised to continue to receive
information, to the
            effect, that several prisoners have died in prison,
including several
            members or sympathizers of the NLD." 

            Lallah said he also still received reports that there is
forced labor
            across the nation. 

            He cited the findings of a commission of inquiry,
established by the
            International Labor Organization, that forced labor was
imposed on the
            civilian population for portering, building and maintenance
of military
            camps, roads, railways and bridges, as well as for work in
agriculture,
            logging and other projects. 

            Another area of concern was the "serious human rights
violations that
            continue to be committed by the armed forces in ethnic
minority
            areas," he said. 

            "The violations include extrajudicial and arbitrary
executions (not
            sparing women and children), rape, torture, inhuman
treatment, forced
            labor and denial of freedom of movement," he said. 

            Lallah said these violations had been so numerous as to
suggest they
            were not isolated incidents "but are rather the result of
policy at the
            highest level, entailing political and legal
responsibility."